Ria's figure could be seen resting soundly in her room.
She hadn't made any movement nor shown any signs of waking up until now.
But all of the sudden.
"Gray!" she yelled out, springing up as she did so.
She looked around hastily and was surprised to find herself in a quiet and warm room.
"Ah.. That's right… I'm not in the Labyrinth anymore…" She sighed.
She got up and proceeded to walk over to the room beside her which was Gray's. Upon entering, her eyes widened.
There he was, fast asleep on his mattress. Lara was seated beside him, she had her head tilted to the side as she seemed to doze off.
On the end of the bed, Kylo and Lita too were fast asleep.
"Gray?" She called out to him with a confused look
The first thought which came to her mind was that something must have happened.
After all, he had a wet towel over his head and Lara had her hands grasped together almost as if she had been making a prayer.
Carefully, trying not to wake anyone up. She approached Gray to get a closer look.
He seemed to be fast asleep, but at the same time, he was burning up with a fever.
His pants were loud, his brows twitched heavily and cold sweat dripped down his face.
He looked as if he was in great pain.
"What's happening to him…?" She asked, the worry in her face growing by the second.
"We're not sure… He's been this way since the morning…" A voice came from behind.
Startled, Ria turned to the source only to find Aurora there, with some warm soup on a plate.
"Ah… Au..rora… Right?" Ria asked.
Aurora nodded before approaching them and sitting beside her.
"Is that soup for him?"
"Ah- This is for me. I'm the only one that hasn't eaten yet… Also I don't think it's a good idea to feed him right now… Ah right, you must be hungry right? I'll go get you a plate."
"No, it's alright. I just woke up I'm not that hungry. Rather, can you tell me what's going on with him?" She asked, trying not to show her worries.
"He's not responding to anything… He's asleep but won't wake up no matter what we do."
Upon hearing this, Ria sighed in relief.
"Oh, so it wasn't an infection from an injury? It's fine then, he used to get fevers like this all the time when we were younger. He'll recover soon." Said Ria as she glanced at him.
"R-Really?! That's good to hear… Younger… You two grew up together, right..?"
Ria nodded - "That's right… Although I can't remember most of it. I remember the times we spent at the orphanage."
"Really? What was he like?" Aurora asked as she turned to her, she had a joyful look on her face.
Surprised, Ria did nothing but stare back at Aurora.
Realising that she had gotten a bit too excited all of the sudden, Aurora's cheeks grew red as she got slightly embarrassed.
"Ah- Sorry…"
Ria shook her head.
"No, it's my fault. I didn't mean that in a bad way, I was just surprised." Said Ria.
"Surprised?" Aurora asked
Ria looked around, a visible smile grew on her face.
"Yeah.. I didn't expect there to be people who cared about my brother so much… Seeing you and everyone here, it made me kind of happy.. I was so surprised that I didn't know what to say."
"I-Is that so…" Aurora replied with a blushful smile "I've also never seen Gray so happy before… After he found you he's been in such a bright mood… Something I couldn't even do despite everything he's done for me.
"Hm~"
A bright smile grew on Ria's face as she said.
"Aurora… I've been wondering, what's your relationship with my brother...?"
Long pink hair, a sharp perfect jaw, round grey jewel-like eyes and small lips. She was beautiful.
For such a beauty to be worried about Gray, surely there was something behind it right?
"My relationship with Gray…?"
At first Aurora's cheeks grew pinker as she smiled to herself whilst recalling a few things. The smile grew sadder after a while and became slightly forced as she said.
"There's nothing going on between us… I think…"
"You think…?"
"He's never mentioned it… And we're too focused on surviving right now to worry about things like that…"
"Hmm~ Aurora, you… Like Gray, don't you?"
"Like… Gray…?" Aurora repeated with a confused look.
After giving it a deeper thought, her entire face flushed a bright red before she lowered it. "I-It's not like that…"
"Sure~ Sure~"
"I-It's r-really not like that!"
Ria giggled to herself before turning back to Gray.
She grabbed onto his hand and squeezed it tightly. Aurora noticed that her hands were trembling.
Even though she was putting on a strong front she was worried.
'These strings… If I try to use my telekinesis on them… They get tighter!'
"I wouldn't move around much if I were you. These strings are made of a special metal which can easily slice through the bones of anyone they've caught."
Violet tried struggling but he was right. The more she struggled, the worst her situation got.
The strings were starting to ache as they squeezed tighter and tighter. It had reached a point where she couldn't even move.
"All it takes, is a flick and you die. Isn't this artifact incredible?" He asked as he lowered his hand.
Violet's figure descended downwards to the floor before stopping right ahead of him.
By this point she seemed to have given up struggling as no matter what she would do, it was pointless.
He grabbed her chin and inspected it.
"You… Although your race is inferior I must admit… There's a certain beauty in some of you." He said.
"Get your hands off of me." Violet replied as her eyes glowed a bright purple.
"And If I don't? I think I'd rather-"
*Crack*
The man was interrupted as his finger suddenly twisted.
